Time Travelers in Fairytale Land
by gingerwhovianrobotskeleton
Summary: [Sequel to "Time Travelers in Storybrooke"] The curse may be broken, but everyone is still in Storybrooke, and magic is in the air (literally). The Doctor and company are unable to leave, and forces stronger than even Regina or Rumpelstiltskin are threatening to overtake the not-so sleepy little town…


_**A/N:**__**Finally got around to posting the sequel! I wanted to wait until we were almost finished with Season 2 to start writing it so I could go ahead and work out a manageable storyline. So far, I've been following the canon of the show, and I'll still do that up to a certain point. After that point, everything will be up in the air, which might make this story more interesting. If you have not read "Time Travelers in Storybrooke", I suggest doing that first.**_

**_DISCLAIMER: I do not own Doctor Who or Once Upon a Time. If I did, life would be manageable, but it isn't. Enjoy!_**

**Chapter One: Strange Reunions**

The smog had cleared. The Doctor could finally see the faint sunlight behind his eyelids. He squeezed both of his hands, relieved that he was still holding on to Amy and Rory. He opened his eyes and pulled himself out of the hug. The couple did the same thing, both wearing worried expressions. "Are you both alright?"

Amy nodded, her breathing slightly shallow because she had held her breath just before the purple smog engulfed her. "I'm okay."

"Me too," Rory replied as he nervously glanced around them.

The Doctor looked over to see Emma letting go of Henry. She knelt down and asked if he was okay. Her son nodded. The five of them looked all around to see what damage the smog had caused.

They were shocked to find that everything was the same.

Buildings hadn't fallen apart, the power lines weren't sparking uncontrollably, and everything was eerily calm. It was as if nothing had happened.

But something did happen. The Doctor could feel it. He could smell it in the air. It didn't smell like Earth air (which always smelled like dirt to him). It was Earth air, but mixed with the air of the Enchanted Forest (which, he remembered, smelled like lavender). The others could feel it too, but they couldn't sense it as well as the time lord could.

"So, what happened exactly?" Amy asked.

"Beats me," Emma replied, wrapping a protective arm around Henry's shoulder. "I thought we were going back to the fairytale land."

"Hey look!" Henry pointed in the other direction towards the library where Emma had fought and killed a dragon a few hours ago.

A few of the town's citizens had gathered over there, hugging and greeting each other. The Doctor smiled as he said, "Looks like a happy reunion."

Without warning, Henry started running towards them. Emma reluctantly followed him, followed by Amy, Rory, then the Doctor.

They were just across the street when they saw Mary Margaret, David Nolan, Ruby, Granny, and seven men that Amy and Rory had guessed were the Seven Dwarves. They were all talking and hugging. Emma stood still. With all that was happening in the past couple of hours, the idea that Snow and Charming were her parents hadn't fully sunk in - she honestly thought it never would. But now, seeing them right in front of her, it had felt lke someone smacked her with a brick.

"Emma?"

The woman looked down at Henry who had a hopeful look in his eyes. He didn't say anything else, but Emma could tell he was asking if she was ready. She looked up at Rory who was standing closer to her than Amy and the Doctor were. She felt she could trust the man, especially after having battled a dragon together. He gave her a slight nod, telling her to go ahead. Emma took a deep breath, grabbed Henry's hand in hers, and the two of them walked across the street.

"Makes you think of River, doesn't it?" the Doctor whispered to Amy.

The red head turned to him confused. "What are you talking about?"

"Can't you see it? A daughter separated from her parents by time and separate worlds?" He tilted his head forward, giving her his all-knowing-time-lord look.

Amy didn't say anything. She looked back over to see Emma stand in front of her mother. Snow wasn't speaking. She had a big smile on her face as she cupped Emma's cheeks with motherly affection. She quickly wrapped her daughter in a hug, tears streaming down her face. Emma didn't make a move to hug back. She seemed too tired and in shock to do anything. A small smile appeared on Amy's face. For a split second she didn't see Snow and Emma, instead remembering the moment when River had told her she was her daughter and how she had felt as Emma was now: shocked, distressed, and extremely bit her lip to keep herself from crying.

Emma stood still as her mother hugged her tightly. She could feel the woman crying into her hair. It wasn't long until David walked up to her, hugging both his wife and daughter as tightly as he could. Emma wanted to pull away. She wanted to hug them tighter. She wanted to scream at someone. He emotions were so tangled up that all the woman could do was shut down and attempt to hide what she was feeling behind the wall she was so comfortable with.

"Grandpa?" she heard Henry ask next to her, causing both Snow and Charming to laugh.

Charming let go of Emma and quickly wrapped Henry in a tight hug. "Guess I am, pal."

Henry tightened his arms around him. "She saved us."

Snow pulled back, beaming at Emma. "She saved all of us."

Emma didn't respond. Her mind quickly went back to what August said about her being the Savior and how everyone was counting on her. Sure everyone in Storybrooke had their memories back, but what about those she lost? Graham had been the first in her mind.

"If we're saved, then why are we still here?" Leroy asked, everyone turning to look at him.

"And what was that smoke?" asked Doc.

The dwarves then started to ask questions all at once. Charming was about to shout for them to calm down when someone let out a loud whistle. Everyone looked over to see the Doctor slowly approaching the group, Amy and Rory trailing behind them.

"Alright, everyone calm down," the time lord said in an almost bored voice.

"Who are you?" asked David.

"Hello, I'm the Doctor," he smiled. "It's nice to meet you all."

"The Doctor?" Leroy snorted. "You look more like a patient to me."

He was confused as to what the smaller man meant until he looked down and saw he was still in his hospital gown. "Ah," he made a face. "Well, that should be handled later. Anyway," he tried again. "one of you asked what the purple smoke was, am I right?"

A couple of the dwarves nodded uneasily.

The way the air smelled to the time lord had confirmed a suspicion he had earlier before they were enveloped in the purple smoke. "That smoke was magic."

Everyone looked around uneasily.

"Doctor," Rory walked up next to his friend. "Are you sure that's what it was?"

"You heard me before," the Doctor turned to him. "I told you that was magic. Someone, instead of sending everyone to a world of magic, went ahead and brought magic _here_ where there wasn't any."

"But who would do that?" asked Mary Margaret concerned.

"I'll tell ya who," Leroy snarled. "It was that evil queen." A few of the dwarves grunted in agreement. "She's the one who made this curse."

Everyone gave their agreements, making plans to find Regina and to confront her about what she did. Emma was still quiet. Yes she felt that Regina was at fault for most of the curse, but there was someone else who was more at blame. "No," she spoke up suddenly.

Everyone quieted down and turned towards her.

"Regina's not responsible for this," she said. "Not this time."

"Then who is?" Snow asked.

...

Mr. Gold opened his eyes, the smoke finally having cleared away and the sunlight breaking through the forest again. Already he could feel the magic in the air. During the curse, after Emma arrived and he got his memories back, the air was far too stuffy. He felt crowded in this Storybrooke without being able to use magic. Now that it was here, it was like he could breathe again.

He heard a small cough next to him. He turned his head suddenly to find Belle in his arms. He almost forgot he was holding her. When the smoke started to boil out of the well at an alarming pace, he instinctively wrapped himself around her to shield her from it. She hadn't made a motion to move away from him, for which he was grateful.

"My darling Belle," he said, giving his true love a small smile.

Belle smiled at him as he pulled away. It wasn't one of her bright smiles she would give him when they were in the Dark Castle together, when she was his maid. It was very small, her lips tightly pressed together, and her eyes were slightly downcast. It was as if some of her glow had been lost.

"Belle," he began uneasily, "Tell me what happened."

The young woman cleared her throat before speaking. "After I left, Regina captured me and locked me away in her dungeon, just before she created her curse. I've been locked away in the asylum ever since."

"For twenty-eight years," Rumpelstiltskin clarified to which Belle gave him an uneasy nod. She did not show it, the brave thing that she was, but the Dark One could see the sadness behind her mask. "You've been here... alive?" the last word sounded more broken than he had intended.

After he banished Belle from his castle, the Evil Queen had convinced him that his true love had killed herself because her father had tortured her. That same father he had beaten only a month ago for that crime; a false crime at that. The whole time Regina had kept Belle locked away, as a pawn no doubt, to use against the Dark one whenever he pleased. The acid in his stomach boiled at the thought of it.

Belle saw the anger in his eyes. It reminded her of the night he threw her in the dungeon. She automatically feared the worse. "Is that why you brought magic here?" she asked. "To get revenge on Regina?"

A dry laugh escaped his throat. "Oh no," he clarified. "But it might come in handy."

Her eyes widened, and she started shaking her head. "No. No, you can't-"

"I can't let this stand, Belle," he said loudly. "I _will_ not let this stand!"

"Rumpel, please," she lifted her arms to his shoulders in an attempt to calm him down. She looked him in the eye and said, "Promise me you won't give into your hate."

"But-"

"Promise me," she repeated, "and we can be together."

_Together_, the word lingered in his mind. He saw the blue in her eyes, noticing they were bright once more. Of all the things Regina might have done to her, he could see clearly now that she hadn't broken his true love. Belle was much stronger than he gave her credit for. "Sweetheart," he said, lifting his arm as he began to gently caress her cheek with the back of his knuckles. "I promise."

She smiled in response.

Without much thought, he leaned forward and captured her lips with his in a soft kiss. For a moment, he worried that he was going to lose his dark magic, much like what almost happened the last time they kissed. When he realized his curse was still holding on, he wrapped his arms tighter around Belle to deepen the kiss. She gladly obliged, accidentally biting his lower lip in the process.

They broke apart, Gold keeping his eyes closed for as long as he could to savor the moment. When he finally did open his eyes, he saw Belle smiling at him just before she rested her head on his shoulder and hugged him tighter.

They stood there for a long time, just the two of them holding onto each other. Rumpelstiltskin felt as if someone had dumped a bucket of cold water on him. How had he been so lucky to have his true love alive and willing to love him? Everything was falling into place. He was one step closer to having the life he'd lost so many years ago. He was going to find his son, and he still had his Belle.

And once he was through with his vengeance against Regina, nothing was going to take her away again.

...

"This gown is so drafty," the Doctor complained, feeling the cool wind brush past his legs.

"Just be thankful you're not wearing one of those gowns that opens up in the back," Amy stated, rolling her eyes at the man's whining.

"You know," Rory whispered to his wife, "We should probably go back and change into our old clothes."

Amy didn't want to start, but she did agree with him. She was still wearing the nurse outfit she dressed in so she could sneak into the asylum and break the Doctor out of there. Rory was still in his roman outfit from when he helped battled a dragon with Emma so they could find Rumpelstiltskin's true love potion. The fact that the pawn broker had Rory's outfit in the first place proved to her that he had the TARDIS in his possession The Doctor had said he locked the doors to it before the imp stole it, so how was he able to break in and take it out?

That was the reason why the trio was following Emma and the rest of the gang to Mr. Gold's pawn shop. To find answers.

"Emma," Mary Margaret began to speak, trying to catch up with her daughter's fast pace, "You know we don't have to rush."

"The sooner we get to Gold's, the quicker we can figure this whole mess out," said Emma, not taking her eyes off the road ahead of her.

Snow looked at her husband uneasily. The man gave her an encouraging nod, and she turned back to Emma. "But, don't you think it's more important that we discuss... you know."

Emma quickly glanced over, not breaking her stride. "About what?"

"Well, about us. Don't you have a lot of questions?"

Emma shrugged, once again forcing what she wanted to feel to the back of her mind. "I was thinking we'd save that for later. You know..." she slowed her pace, looking at the dwarves, Ruby, Granny, Henry, the Doctor, Amy, and Rory, "...when we were alone, and had a few drinks."

"Emma," David said, his turn to help Snow out, "I can understand how hard this is for you, but you know you can-"

"Actually," Emma interrupted, stopping and turning to face her father, causing everyone else to stop walking, "You don't understand. I mean..." she took a second to calm herself down. "My whole life, I imagined what the first time meeting my parents would be like, and believe me, this was the last scenario in my mind."

Emma kept a blank face, but Snow could see the sadness in her eyes. Her mother's intuition was kicking in at a rapid pace. Before she could console her, however, a shout broke out.

"Let's get her!"

Everyone turned to see a large group of people exiting the Rabbit Hole, all heading in the same direction. One person, however, was running towards them. It was Dr. Hopper with his dog, Pongo.

He stopped in front of Emma, taking a moment to catch his breath.

"Archie, what the hell's going on?" asked Emma.

The man began to speak. "Dr. Whale has riled up a bunch of the citizens into a frenzy. They're blaming Regina and they're planning to kill her."

A few of the people in their group looked concerned. Grumpy had commented about how he wanted to watch, which Snow slapped him on the arm for.

"I'm not happy about what Regina did, but murdering in cold blood isn't going to fix anything," Archie said.

"He has a point," the Doctor agreed with him as he stepped ahead of the crowd, closer to Emma. Even though he still resented the woman for locking him up for twenty-eight years, he knew murder wasn't the answer. The least they could do was calm everyone down so no one would resort to do anything stupid.

Archie looked at the man confused. "Um, I'm sorry I don't believe we met."

"Oh, I'm-"

"You two can chat later," Amy said, walking up to the Doctor. "If we're going to stop the mob, we might as well hurry."

There were a few reluctant glances, but everyone quickly agreed to help Regina out... for now.

"Alright, let's go then," Emma said, quickly breaking out into a run towards Regina's house, the rest of the group following.


End file.
